From Terrible to Wonderful
by DatCrownedProblemSolver
Summary: "As elected mayor on my electoral land..." Fanfiction based on the 1969 television show H.R. Pufnstuf. This fanfiction is about my headcanon on how Pufnstuf came to Living Island and how he became mayor. One-shot.


Once upon a time, on a terrible island known as Living Island, there was the previous mayor of the land: Wilhelmina W. Witchiepoo, mostly known as Witchiepoo, who set fires on the land and stole from the poor, sad people. Everything lived on the island, but with Witchiepoo as mayor, everything and everyone wanted to die.

Witchiepoo was as mean as could be. She didn't care for the people of the land; she just wanted to use it for her gain. She wanted to rule the land and make it one of the most feared places in the world so that she, in turn, could become one of the best witches in the world.

No one could stop her, not even the dragon king and queen of the Universe. But several years ago, they gave birth to their son, Royal Highness Pufnstuf, prince of the Universe.

Pufnstuf, now fully grown, was summoned by his father. Pufnstuf, in his Egyptian Blue royal clothing, ran towards his father's throne. His pumpkin-colored hair bounced about as Pufnstuf ran and his tail dragged about on the floor.

"Boy! No running in this castle!" yelled Pufnstuf's father.

"Oh, sorry, dad," said Pufnstuf, breathing deeply out of exhaustion. "What's this here all about?"

"Son of mine, your mother and me made you with hope that you could stop Witchiepoo, the current mayor of Living Island. Now, we know that we've taught you never to harm a woman, but this is a very rare exception," said Pufnstuf's father in his deep, husky voice. Pufnstuf's father was obviously very old. He had White, long hair and Brown eyes. His skin, the shade of Yellow seen on a lemon chiffon cake, was rough to the touch. He wore Black battle armor, always ready to fight for the sake of the Universe.

Pufnstuf put his hands on his cheeks in a surprised motion at the thought of the rare exception to hurting a woman.

"...I've heard about what goes on at Livin' Island. It ain't pretty," said Pufnstuf in his Southern accent.

"...Yes...Which is why we need you, Pufnstuf..." Pufnstuf's father pointed at Pufnstuf as he said this. "...We need you to help them all. As prince of the Universe, we expect you to help them in times of need."

"Sure, dad."

"Then come with me." Pufnstuf and his father walked out the castle and went to the bay in the back yard, surrounded by the sea. On this bay was a colorful boat.

"That is the boat you shall ride to the island."

"Alright." Pufnstuf got on the boat, and with his Green eyes, he looked at his father.

"The reason why I give you no food is because this trip should not take you long at all."

"But how will I know where to go?" asked Pufnstuf.

"The boat itself knows," said Pufnstuf's father. "Trust it well."

"Alright," said Pufnstuf. The boat started sailing out to sea, and in no time, Pufnstuf was far away from his castle.

"...Make me proud, boy," said Pufnstuf's father.

* * *

Pufnstuf sailed to the island, and was shocked at the damage Witchiepoo had caused.

"Oh, my. What a shocker to see it in real life," said Pufnstuf.

Witchiepoo was spying on Pufnstuf from the binoculars in her room.

"Ha! What's **he** doing here?!" Witchiepoo asked herself. She thought about Pufnstuf's arrival, and thought of a way to take it to her advantage for her own gain.

"Ahhahaha! Maybe I could cook him and deliver his meat to the Boss Witch! She'd HAVE to award me as one of the best witches in the world then!" Witchiepoo prepared her wand. "Oh, this unpopularity, I've had enough; take me to Royal Highness Pufnstuf!" She used her magic to teleport to Pufnstuf.

"AHAHAHAHAHA! Hello, hello, so-called prince!"

"Golly! You're the witch, aren't you?" asked Pufnstuf.

"Obviously, you jolly green dum-dum!"

"Ms. Witch, that's no way to talk to a prince."

"Ha! You won't be prince after I cook you up!" yelled Witchiepoo.

"Are you _threatening_ me?" asked Pufnstuf.

"Oh, no, I wouldn't threaten _you!"_ said Witchiepoo, sarcastically.

"Now, Ms. Witch, as prince of the Universe, I kindly ask you to stop terrorizing the island and step down as mayor."

"Ha! Like you can make me do anything!" yelled Witchiepoo, who then prepared her wand again. "The situation, so very dire, set Pufnstuf on-" but Witchiepoo's spell was interrupted by a White-feathered owl, standing like a human would. He used a fire extinguisher to cover Witchiepoo in a fire-extinguishing agent.

"AAAH! OH, WHAT A COINCIDENCE! I WAS ABOUT TO SET HIM ON FIRE AND YOU USE A FIRE EXTINGUISHER!" yelled Witchiepoo.

"Your Royal Highness, come with me!" yelled the owl. The owl and Pufnstuf ran away from the witch.

* * *

The owl and Pufnstuf got to the owl's house.

"Your Royal Highness! It sure is an honor to meet you," said the owl. "I'm Dr. Blinky, the medical expert of Living Island."

"Well, howdy, Dr. Blinky," said Pufnstuf. "You don' have to call me "Royal Highness." Just call me Pufnstuf."

"Okay, Pufnstuf...Are you alright?" asked Dr. Blinky.

"I'm just fine, doctor."

"Oh, good...May I ask what you're doing here on such a terrible island?"

"I was ordered by my father to stop mayor Witchiepoo. That way, maybe the island could be wonderful."

"I see," said Dr. Blinky. "But, Pufnstuf, there's little to no hope of stopping Witchiepoo."

Pufnstuf wasn't exactly listening to Dr. Blinky. Rather, he was looking around Dr. Blinky's house, looking at all the chemicals obviously used to make medicines. Pufnstuf wondered if it was possible to make a potion that could somehow make Witchiepoo step down as mayor.

"...There's at least a little hope," said Pufnstuf. "Especially with your help."

Dr. Blinky stopped focusing on the chemicals in his laboratory for a second.

"But what can I do to help?"

"Well, you got a potion that could make Witchiepoo step down as mayor?"

"Hm...Well, there is one thing I have," said Dr. Blinky. Dr. Blinky looked through his books to find the recipe for a potion. "Aha! I found it!" Dr. Blinky took the book to Pufnstuf to show him the potion. "The potion is called the Reverse-y potion. The potion reverses one part of a person's life from the last two years permanently."

"Golly! All we had when I was a little munchkin were healing potions!" said Pufnstuf.

"It's amazing what science can do."

"So, if Witchiepoo takes the potion, she won't be mayor anymore?"

"She came to Living Island three years ago and was elected mayor...Well, I shouldn't say "elected.""

"She forced the people to accept her as mayor?" asked Pufnstuf.

"Yes! How did you know?" asked Dr. Blinky.

"I read the newspaper."

"Well, no offence, but with news-delivering medicines these days, you don't need newspapers anymore!" said Dr. Blinky.

"...Anyways, when did she force the people to accept her as mayor?" asked Pufnstuf.

"Two years ago...Before she became mayor she was still mean, but I kind of liked her. It was new to see witchcraft on the island."

"So if she takes the potion, she won't be gone, but she won't be mayor anymore. That's kind of good," said Pufnstuf.

"It gets the job done," said Dr. Blinky.

Dr. Blinky started putting things in a cauldron to make the potion.

"You need any help, Dr. Blinky?" asked Pufnstuf.

"Why, I'm surprised that you want to help," said Dr. Blinky. "I mean, as the prince, I'd think that you'd wouldn't want to, although maybe my memory on princes is a bit rusty."

"Now that's nonsense," said Pufnstuf. "I've been taught to help all around the globe."

"Again, your majesty, my memory on princes is a little rusty, I apologize," said Dr. Blinky, quickly. He didn't want to offend Pufnstuf.

Pufnstuf, while he was prince, was still gentle and kind. He didn't want people to be intimidated by him just because he was prince.

But, it could have just been that he was a dragon. He couldn't help that; he was born that way.

"It's alright, Dr. Blinky," said Pufnstuf.

"...Actually, Pufnstuf, I might need your help."

"Certainly. What do you need help with?"

"Well, the thing is, I need the leaves of a tree native to the land to make the potion, but I don't have any, and the trees really wouldn't like me using their leaves for potion-making. But maybe if you asked them, they'd give in," said Dr. Blinky. "Really, all you need to do is pick some leaves from the trees."

"Sure," said Pufnstuf.

"Thank you, Pufnstuf. Just be aware that all the trees live, so don't just go picking the leaves like the feathers of a chicken without their permission."

"Certainly. Both chickens and trees have feelings, too."

"Exactly."

And with that, Pufnstuf walked out the door, looking for the trees. Pufnstuf noticed a lot of trees moving and having conversations with one another. It was a pretty sight; despite Witchiepoo's reign, they continued to be calm and collected, and just lived the way they should. This was obviously a very nice community.

Pufnstuf, careful as could be, walked up to the trees. Several of the trees looked at Pufnstuf, amazed by the rather royal appearance of Pufnstuf; it certainly stood out from the rest of the island. But what stood out the most was probably his White cowboy boots. In theory, cowboy boots and the Egyptian Blue royal garb of Pufnstuf wouldn't go well together, but he thought it did. When it came to how he looked, he never really cared. Under his eyes were markings of two different shades of Green, shaped like half-ovals under his eyes, but he was born with these. Maybe dragons just had weird markings.

"Excuse me, trees of Livin' Island," said Pufnstuf. The Southern accent of Pufnstuf certainly stood out as well. "As Prince of the Universe, I kindly ask for some of your leaves."

"Well! It's no wonder you have such wonderful clothing. Certainly, Prince Pufnstuf!" said one of the female trees. It seemed that the trees have heard of the prince already. The tree picked out some leaves of hers and gave them to Pufnstuf.

"...Trees have _gender_?" Pufnstuf thought to himself. He kindly took the leaves. "Thank you, ma'am." Pufnstuf shook the female tree's branch as if he was shaking a hand and left.

"Oh my, I got touched by a prince!" said the tree.

"Oh, don't brag," said another tree. They shared a good laugh together.

* * *

Witchiepoo, using her binoculars, was watching Pufnstuf.

"Now's my chance..." thought Witchiepoo. "He won't get away from me this time!"

Witchiepoo teleported to Pufnstuf. Pufnstuf stopped in his tracks when the witch teleported in front of him.

"You again!" said Pufnstuf.

"Well, of course it's me again! Honestly, do you think there'd be anymore witches on this dump of an island?" asked Witchiepoo.

"Now, Ms. Witch, I wouldn't call the island a dump if I were mayor. I enjoy it."

"You do, but I don't! But that doesn't matter! You aren't going to get away from me this time!" Witchiepoo prepared a spell and Pufnstuf tried to run away. He held onto the leaves with the best of his grip.

Witchiepoo zapped him with a spell that was so powerful it tore off his clothing. Pufnstuf yelled in slight pain and fell to the ground.

"Now you're mine!" yelled Witchiepoo.

"Stop right there!" yelled a familiar voice. It was the female tree who gave Pufnstuf the leaves. "Nobody messes with a fashionable prince!" The tree ran towards Witchiepoo and held her back.

"Your royal highness, run!" said the tree.

"But what about you?!" asked Pufnstuf.

"I'll be okay! Just run!" The tree continued to hold Witchiepoo. Witchiepoo tried to escape using her teleportation powers, but her wand failed and broke down. At just the right time, too.

"...I really gotta call a wand repairman!" yelled Witchiepoo.

As long as Witchiepoo's wand was broken, Pufnstuf thought that the tree could fend for herself. Just until he got to Dr. Blinky's house. Then he could try and stop the fight.

And with that, Pufnstuf ran off to Dr. Blinky's house. He ran and ran. Not wearing his clothing really helped when it came to speed. His boots weren't the easiest to run in, but they'd do for now; maybe there's a shoe store somewhere on the island. But would they have shoes for a dragon?

Pufnstuf wondered about that. But then he remembered that he had to get back to Dr. Blinky, and quick.

He got to Dr. Blinky's house and knocked. Dr. Blinky answered the door.

"Pufnstuf, come in, quickly!" yelled Dr. Blinky.

"Dr. Blinky...Do you have everything? The witch is here on the island!" said Pufnstuf.

"Yes, yes," said Dr. Blinky. "Now, I just add these leaves and..."

_Boom. _There was an explosion.

Dr. Blinky coughed. "Pufnstuf, are you alright?" asked Dr. Blinky.

"I'm fine, just fine," said Pufnstuf. "What about you?"

"I'm okay," said Dr. Blinky, who coughed a couple more times and checked to see if the potion was properly made.

"Royal Highness Pufnstuf...It worked," said Dr. Blinky, amazed. "_There is hope after all!_" Dr. Blinky thought to himself. Dr. Blinky poured some into a bottle. The potion itself was a liquid of many colors, turning into beautiful shades of Pink, Yellow, Blue and many more colors. And on the plus side, it tasted like bubblegum.

Dr. Blinky took the bottle to Pufnstuf.

"Thanks, Dr. Blinky. I'm afraid I gotta jet now, though. A tree saved me from Witchiepoo and she's still fighting with 'er."

"...And I'm guessing that Witchiepoo used that spell that knocks you out of your clothes?" asked Dr. Blinky.

"...Yeah..."

"Do what you have to, your Royal Highness," said Dr. Blinky. He bowed down politely to Pufnstuf. "And thank you."

"Ain't no trouble at all," said Pufnstuf. He then ran out of Dr. Blinky's house and ran back to the forest of trees.

But there was a problem.

All of the trees were missing.

"Trees! Speak to me! Are you okay?!" yelled Pufnstuf.

Suddenly, Witchiepoo teleported into what used to be the forest.

"AHAHAHAHAHAHA!" laughed Witchiepoo. Her laugh could shatter a person's eardrums if she allowed it to.

Pufnstuf remained calm.

"Ms. Witch...I have asked you time and time again to stop this nonsense kindly. But since you appear to not want to...I guess I'll just have to force you." Pufnstuf held the potion in his hands.

"Ahahahaha!" laughed Witchiepoo in her less ear-shattering laugh.

"I _mean_ it," said Pufnstuf.

"Oh, I know you do, you jolly green dum-dum. It's just hard to take you seriously when you're not wearing any clothes!" Witchiepoo was about to teleport away, but Pufnstuf grabbed onto Witchiepoo while the spell was in process. Therefore, Pufnstuf was teleported back with Witchiepoo to her castle.

Her dark, depressing castle.

"Well...Isn't this a surprise?" asked Witchiepoo.

It had turned out that Witchiepoo's wand started working again and she used a spell to teleport herself and the trees of the forest back to her castle.

The trees were tied up and their mouths were bound with rope.

"Witchiepoo...You can't do this. I'm not lettin' you get away with this," said Pufnstuf.

"Oh? Well, you won't be able to catch me!" yelled Witchiepoo. She grabbed more rope and used her spell of teleportation to confuse Pufnstuf. When he just couldn't know where she'd end up anymore, she teleported behind him and tied him up. She was in a hurry, so she couldn't bound his mouth with the rope; but he still wasn't able to break free from the rope. That was good enough. But while Pufnstuf was being tied up, he dropped the Reverse-y potion to the ground and the bottle shattered into a million pieces.

Witchiepoo threw Pufnstuf aside.

Oh...What's this?" asked Witchiepoo. "Hehehe! Were you planning to poison me?! Well, plan failed! Now...I'm going to cook you up and give you as a gift to the Boss Witch. And I'll add the trees as a little bonus! I'm sure she'd LOVE to decorate her garden with the trees!"

Pufnstuf realized that he was out of options. It didn't take him very long to think about what to do next.

"Wait!" yelled Pufnstuf. "Can't you spare the trees? You can cook me, but at least spare them...I just want to see this here island continue to grow and strengthen. That can't happen without the trees."

"...Hm, well, you have a decent point...These trees do add color to the land," said Witchiepoo.

But before Witchiepoo could decide for herself, something happened.

The winds outside started to roar and strengthen, producing a fearsome sound.

The winds broke some of the castle wall off.

"What's going on out there?!" yelled Witchiepoo.

Pufnstuf knew what was going on. He knew what was happening.

It was The Winds: the North Wind, the South Wind, the East Wind, and finally the West Wind, that were roaring and blowing their winds. The Winds were most likely summoned by Pufnstuf's father, overseeing what was happening.

"Oh, thank you, Winds!" yelled Pufnstuf, looking up at the ceiling, noticing that the ceiling was about to crash down on him. He remained calm, knowing that The Winds were protecting him. The Winds blew away the broken-down ceiling, away from Pufnstuf and the trees.

Pufnstuf freed himself from the ropes that were tied around him. The Winds were still hanging about in the sky; Pufnstuf could feel it.

"Thank you, Winds!" Pufnstuf yelled again.

"Oh, you're welcome, sugar," said the West Wind. "Oh, here. Your father asked me to give you this message: He wanted you to know that he's overseen your progress and is proud of you. He also wants you to come back home when you can."

Pufnstuf looked around the island; he saw the trees, injured greatly and he saw the witch, crying about her destroyed castle and how it's always her that gets treated badly. The island was still in despair, and technically Witchiepoo was still mayor.

"Hang on one second, West Wind," said Pufnstuf.

"Sure thing, sugar."

Pufnstuf walked over to the witch. He just couldn't stand to see women cry, even if they are witches.

"Ms. Witch," said Pufnstuf.

"Oh, what do you want?" asked Witchiepoo.

Pufnstuf held out his hand, offering to help Witchiepoo up. "I jus' wanna talk a bit."

Witchiepoo got up on her own. "About what?"

"Well...Your castle's pretty damaged."

"What's it to you?"

"Well...I'm a nice person, Ms. Witch. Despite your crimes, I'll allow you to live on the island _if_ you step down as mayor."

"...You got yourself a deal if you build me a new castle."

"..._It's a small price to pay for the island's fate,"_ Pufnstuf thought. "Ms. Witch, you have yourself a deal." Pufnstuf held out his hand so as to shake hands with Witchiepoo to seal the deal.

"Get your paws away from me," said Witchiepoo. Pufnstuf took down his hand quickly.

* * *

"West Wind...I want you to give a message to my dad," said Pufnstuf.

"Sure, hon. What can I do for you?" asked the West Wind.

"...I want you to let dad know that I plan on staying on Livin' Island."

The West Wind was surprised at first.

"You see...I think that with the witch not the mayor anymore, the island is safer, but I still think that the island needs someone to watch over it."

"What do you mean, hon?" asked the West Wind.

"...I mean that...Well, perhaps I could be mayor of Livin' Island."

"Oh, hon. I support your decision. I'll let your daddy know and I'll see what he thinks."

"I won't do anythin' official until dad says I can," said Pufnstuf.

"I know," said the West Wind. The West Wind soared back to tell Pufnstuf's father about everything.

* * *

A few hours later, Pufnstuf was taking the tree's to Dr. Blinky's to help with their injuries when the West Wind came back.

"Pufnstuf! Your daddy says it's okay to become mayor of Living Island," said the West Wind.

Pufnstuf smiled. "Golly! Tell him I say thank you!" said Pufnstuf.

"Sure thing, hon! Good luck!" and with that, the West Wind soared away again.

A few months later, the island was happier. Witchiepoo got a new castle and the trees were cured of their injuries.

And best of all, Pufnstuf was elected mayor of Living Island by the vote of the people. The island was overall happier with Pufnstuf as mayor. To thank Pufnstuf, the residents built Pufnstuf a cave for him to live in. The cave was the only place on the island where Witchiepoo's magic had no effect. Pufnstuf moved in happily, enjoying the thought of the residents liking him already.

"Pufnstuf," said one of the trees. "We want to thank you so much for saving us."

"Oh, it ain't no problem at all," said Pufnstuf. "I just want what's best for everyone."

The female tree who saved Pufnstuf from the witch walked up to Pufnstuf with a familiar Egyptian Blue cloth in her hand-like branches.

"Pufnstuf, I picked up what remained of your garb after Witchiepoo's spell and made you a sash from it. Thank you so much." She bowed down politely to Pufnstuf.

Pufnstuf took the sash and put it on his left shoulder. "You're welcome."

And that is the story of how Living Island turned from terrible to wonderful. The people are happier, the songs they sing are more cheerful, and they know that with Pufnstuf's guidance, they'd live happily ever after.

* * *

DISCLAIMERS: I do not own H.R. Pufnstuf or any related characters. They belong to Sid and Marty Krofft.

Author's note time: Hello. Thank you so much for reading this ridiculously long one-shot. At the time of writing this I had very little space in my document manager left and I wanted to save it but I also really wanted to write this story. So, I made it a one-shot. That was before I deleted any excess documents. I hope you do not mind this format.

This was the first time I wrote a fanfiction with someone speaking in a Southern accent (in this case, Pufnstuf), so I most likely did very badly at it. I wanted to make him a mix of a formal person and a Southern person, since he is a royal highness and it was the best way to do it without ruining the Pufnstuf character as well.

But thank you for reading, again. Have a wonderful day/night.


End file.
